“There’s not an action movie in the past 30 years without a machine gun.”

The accidental shooting death of the firing-range instructor in Arizona set off a powerful debate over youngsters and guns, with many people wondering what sort of parents would let a child handle a submachine gun.

Tourists from Australia, Europe or Asia, where civilians are barred from using many types of guns, long to indulge in the quintessentially American right to bear arms.

Vacca, 39, was standing next to the girl Monday at the Last Stop range in White Hills, Arizona, about 96 kilometres south of Las Vegas, when she squeezed the trigger. The recoil wrenched the Uzi upward, and Vacca was shot in the head.

Accidental act ... shooting instructor Charles Vacca stands next to the nine-year-old girl, before she pulled the trigger. Picture: APSource:AP

Prosecutors say they will not file charges in the case. The identities of the girl and her family have not been released.

Many American youth grow up around guns, and taking part in their first hunt with parents is a rite of passage in rural America.

But giving a child an automatic Uzi is a different story.

Sad loss ... the Last Stop outdoor shooting range in White Hills, Arizona. Instructor Charles Vacca was accidentally killed at the range by a 9-year-old with an Uzi submachine gun. Picture: APSource:AP

Their website also boasts: “We even have the actual firearms used in several Hollywood hits including The Terminator and Rambo II.”

Their Extreme Sniper Adventure offers visitors a sniper adventure that “begins at your hotel where you are picked up at your hotel by your Elite Sniper Trainer who is a former US Navy Seal Sniper Team Captain, and the current Lead Sniper of the US Swat team”.

“He is an Elite Special operations operator with an extensive military and civil law enforcement background. He is the best of the best that’s a guarantee.”

“He will give you unprecedented access into the life and mind of a sniper. He will talk about the Sniper mindset, Sniper mission overview, Ballistics, and the “tricks of the trade” of Sniping. He will cover everything from basic Sniper training, equipment used and the advanced skills necessary for extreme distance shooting.”

Similar attractions have been around since the 1980s in Las Vegas, although the city has experienced a boom of such businesses in the past few years.

The experience promises visitors they can “blast away at life-size targets”.

On the official website, it states: “Let out your inner counterterrorist! Choose from one of the largest selections of firearms anywhere. You are free to take pictures and post your experience on Facebook. Bring home your targets and other prized souvenirs from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

There’s also the prohibitive cost of owning an automatic weapon — an M5 might go for $A27,050, while a chance to gun down zombie targets with an AR-15 and three other weapons costs less than $A216.

“It’s an opportunity that people may not come across again in their lifetime,” Sessions said.

The businesses cast a lighthearted spin on their shooting experiences, staging weddings in their ranges and selling souvenir T-shirts full of bullet holes.

On The Gun Store website, a kids package exists for minors of six to 12 years of age, where they can shoot a .22 rifle and a .22 handgun.

The Kids Package ... one of the guns kids can fire through The Gun Store in Las Vegas. Picture: thegunstorelasvegas.com

Adults can choose from a range of packages, including offer bullet-riddled Bachelor and Bachelorette parties among others.

No matter which rifle range tourists visit, they can be guaranteed access to using and firing a variety of gun rounds with friends, family and pose with Uzis, ammo belts and more weaponry.

Sam Scarmardo, who operates the outdoor range in Arizona where the instructor was killed, said that the parents had signed waivers saying they understood the rules and were standing nearby, videorecording their daughter, when the accident happened.

“I have regret we let this child shoot, and I have regret that Charlie was killed in the incident,” Scarmardo said.

He said he doesn’t know what went wrong, pointing out that Vacca was an Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jace Zack, chief deputy for the Mohave County Attorney’s Office, said the instructor was probably the most criminally negligent person involved in the accident for having allowed the child to hold the gun without enough training.

Pulling the trigger ... Brad Whitehead of Manchester, England fires a fully automatic machine gun at Machine Guns Vegas in Las Vegas. Most visitors to Machine Guns Vegas have already pulled the trigger on an Uzi or an M5, from the behind the controls of their XBox. Picture: APSource:AP

“The parents aren’t culpable,” Zack said.

“They trusted the instructor to know what he was doing, and the girl could not possibly have comprehended the potential dangers involved.” Still, the accident has raised questions about whether children that young should be handling such powerful weapons.

“We have better safety standards for who gets to ride a roller coaster at an amusement park,” said Gerry Hills, founder of Arizonans for Gun Safety, a group seeking to reduce gun violence.

Referring to the girl’s parents, Hills said: “I just don’t see any reason in the world why you would allow a nine-year-old to put her hands on an Uzi.”

In 2008, an eight-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with an Uzi at a gun expo near Springfield, Massachusetts. Christopher Bizilj was firing at pumpkins when the gun kicked back.

A former Massachusetts police chief whose company co-sponsored the gun show was later acquitted of involuntary manslaughter. Dave Workman, senior editor at thegunmag.com and a spokesman for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said it can be safe to let children shoot an automatic weapon if a properly trained adult is helping them hold it.

Another accidental shooting ... the main entrance to the Westfield Sportman's Club where eight-year old Christopher Bizilj died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun at a gun fair. Picture; APSource:AP

After viewing the video of the Arizona shooting, Workman said Vacca appeared to have tried to help the girl maintain control by placing his left hand under the weapon. But automatic weapons tend to recoil upward, he noted.

“If it was the first time she’d ever handled a full-auto firearm, it’s a big surprise when that gun continues to go off,” said Workman, a firearms instructor for 30 years.

“I’ve even seen adults stunned by it.” Scarmardo said his policy of allowing children eight and older to fire guns under adult supervision and the watchful eye of an instructor is standard practice in the industry.